Why Women are now ‘Player 1′

Think of the typical video ‘gamer’ and chances are you’d apply the usual stereotypes.

But this report by the Guardian newspaper reminds us why stereotypes are often lazy and incorrect; and why we can all run the risk of missing great opportunities when it comes to engaging women consumers.

With women now making up the majority (52%) of all UK gamers, it seems the games industry has been slow to react, understand and cater for this growing segment.

Only 12% of game developers in the UK are women so it’s unsurprising that women in games are almost invisible. But surely an industry that can develop games that appeal to a broader audience and better cater for it’s biggest customer has more to gain. Get it right and you can generate huge competitive advantage in an industry worth over $70 billion.

How long before developers and their brands stop being surprised by these kind of stats and start playing the long game?